Alexei Ratmansky

Alexei Osipovich Ratmansky (Russian: Алексей Осипович Ратманский, born August 27, 1968 in Leningrad) is a Russian-American[1] choreographer and former ballet dancer. As of April 2014 he is the artist in residence at the American Ballet Theatre.[2] From 2004 to 2008 he was the director of the Bolshoi Ballet.[3]

Alexei Ratmansky
Алексей Ратманский
Alexei Ratmansky, Tatiana Ratmansky & Yuri Khanon, «The Middle Duo», Mariinsky theatre, 24 nov 1998
Born
Алексей Осипович Ратманский

(1968-08-27) August 27, 1968
Leningrad
OccupationBallet dancer
EmployerBolshoi Theatre
American Ballet Theatre

Training and performance career

Ratmansky was born in St. Petersburg and trained under Pyotr Pestov and Alexandra Markeyeva at the Bolshoi Ballet School.[2] He graduated in 1986.[4] He then danced in Kyiv and was a principal dancer with the Ukrainian National Ballet, Royal Winnipeg Ballet and Royal Danish Ballet.

Choreographic and administrative careers

Ratmansky's choreographic career first became notable with his staging of the ballet Dreams of Japan for the State Ballet of Georgia in 1998. Dreams and Charms of Mannerism, choreographed in 1997, were both created for Nina Ananiashvili.[5] Dreams earned the Golden Mask Award from the Theatre Union of Russia.

Ratmansky is noted for restaging traditionally classical ballets for large companies.[6] His first three-act story ballet was Cinderella, created for the Kirov Ballet in 2002.[5] Ratmansky's 2003 staging of The Bright Stream (also translated as "The Limpid Stream") for the Bolshoi Ballet led to his appointment as artistic director of that company the following year. While there he also made a full-length production of The Bolt, in 2005, and re-staged Le Corsaire and the Flames of Paris, in 2007 and 2008. The Critics' Circle in London has named the Bolshoi "Best Foreign Company" under Ratmansky's direction, in 2005 and 2007, and he received its National Dance Award for The Bright Stream.

After his directorship at the Bolshoi, Ratmansky agreed to become the first artist in residence for the American Ballet Theatre in 2008 after negotiations with the New York City Ballet failed over the position of resident choreographer.[4] His ballets for the New York City Ballet include Russian Seasons and Concerto DSCH, and for the American Ballet Theatre, On the Dnieper and Seven Sonatas.

In 2011, his choreography of Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet was premiered by the National Ballet of Canada in Toronto. Its performance in London earned Ratmansky the praise from New York Times reviewer Alastair Macaulay of being "the most gifted choreographer specializing in classical ballet today."[7]

In 2014, Ratmansky took his career in a new direction when he reconstructed Marius Petipa's final revival of Paquita from the Sergeyev Collection. The reconstruction was premièred in Munich in December 2014, performed by the Bavarian State Ballet. In March 2015, he mounted his second Petipa reconstruction for American Ballet Theatre - The Sleeping Beauty, which premièred in Orange County and was later staged at the Teatro alla Scala. Ratmansky is currently reconstructing the Petipa/Ivanov 1895 staging of Swan Lake, which was premièred in Zurich in February 2016.

Choreographed works
  • 1988: La Sylphide-88, Duet-buff #1 & 2
  • 1993: Pas de Graham
  • 1994: The Fairy's Kiss, Alborada, Whipped Cream, 98 steps
  • 1995: Hurluburlu, Poor Little Things
  • 1996: Sarabande
  • 1997: Charms of Mannerism, Capriccio, Krakowyak, Old Juniet's Carriol
  • 1998: Dreams of Japan, Middle Duet, Poem of Extazy, Fairy's Kiss (2nd version)
  • 1999: Water, Chrizantemums
  • 2001: Turandot's Dream, Flight to Budapest, Leah, The Nutcracker
  • 2002: Cinderella, Vers la Flamme, The Firebird
  • 2003: The Bright Stream, Carnaval des Animaux, Bolero
  • 2004: Anna Karenina, Leah (2nd version)
  • 2005: The Bolt, Jeu de cartes
  • 2006: Russian Seasons
  • 2007: Le Corsaire (after Mazilier & Petipa, with Yuri Burlaka), Old Women Falling Out
  • 2008: Biset Variations, Pierrot Lunaire, Concerto DSCH, Flames of Paris (after Vainonen)
  • 2009: The Little Humpbacked Horse, Valse-Fantasie, On the Dnieper, Scuola di Ballo, Seven Sonatas
  • 2010: Don Quixote (after Petipa & Gorsky), Namouna, Fandango, The Nutcracker (2nd version)
  • 2011: Lost Illusions, Dumbarton, Psyche, Romeo & Juliet
  • 2012: Souvenir d'un Lieu Cher, Symphonic Dances, The Firebird (2nd version), The Golden Cockerel, Symphony No. 9
  • 2013: 24 Preludes, From Foreign Lands, Chamber Symphony, Piano Concerto No. 1, Cinderella (2nd version), Opera, The Tempest
  • 2014: Tanzsuite, Pictures at an Exhibition, Rondo Capriccioso
  • 2016: Serenade After Plato’s Symposium[8]
  • 2017: Whipped Cream,[9] Odessa,[10] Songs of Bukovina[11][12]

Reconstructions
  • 2014: Paquita
  • 2015: The Sleeping Beauty
  • 2016: Swan Lake
  • 2018: Harlequinade,[13] La Bayadère[14]

Awards

Ratmansky received the 2005 and 2014 Prix Benois de la Danse for choreography for, respectively, Anna Karenina, put on for the Royal Danish Ballet, and Shostakovich Trilogy and The Tempest, put on for the American Ballet Theatre. He also received the 2007 Golden Mask Award for Best Choreographer for Jeu de Cartes choreographed for the Bolshoi Ballet.

In 2013, Ratmansky was named as the MacArthur Fellow of the year, an award that came with "genius grant" for "working in any field, who "show exceptional merit and promise for continued and enhanced creative work". (http://www.macfound.org/fellows/900/)

References
  1. Kourlas, Gia (15 May 2016). "Alexei Ratmansky Has Russian Poetry and an American Pulse". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  2. Goodman, Stephanie (27 April 2011). "Alexei Ratmansky Gives ABT 10 More Years". The New York Times. New York, United States. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  3. Brown, Chip. "Russian Revolutionary". The New York Times.
  4. Harss, Marina (12 October 2009). "Ratmansky Takes Manhattan". The Nation. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
  5. Khadarina, Oksana (23 October 2012). "Mariinsky Ballet – Cinderella – Washington". DanceTabs. Retrieved 15 November 2012.
  6. Sulcas, Roslyn (24 September 2012). "The New Season: Big-Name Dance Makers on Parade". The New York Times. New York, United States. Retrieved 25 September 2012.
  7. Macaulay, Alastair (22 April 2013). "Carrying a Torch for Pure Academic Ballet". New York Times. New York, United States. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  8. Acocella, Joan (23 October 2016). "Alexei Ratmansky Makes a Ballet about Love". The New Yorker. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
  9. Bleiberg, Laura (17 March 2017). "We're still on a sugar high: Run (or leap) to American Ballet Theatre's 'Whipped Cream'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 10 May 2017.
  10. Macaulay, Alastair (5 May 2017). "For the Couples in This Alexei Ratmansky Ballet, Love Is Not Enough". New York Times. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
  11. Harss, Marina (17 October 2017). "Alexei Ratmansky's Elective Affinity, Musically Speaking". New York Times. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
  12. Macaulay, Alastair (19 October 2017). "At American Ballet Theater Gala, All Is the Same but Different". New York Times. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
  13. Harss, Marina (29 May 2018). "In 'Harlequinade,' Gestures Dance, and Dances Tell Stories". New York Times. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  14. Cappelle, Laura (13 November 2018). "Ratmansky returns orientalist fantasy to its roots". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
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